Home Is Where The Heart Is
by fatcatwalker
Summary: Carol wakes up to find Daryl missing from there house in Alexandria, but she finds a letter he left for her Rick and Michonne. Daryl couldn't live the suburban life. They can't let him go, but they cant make him stay, so Rick comes up with a idea that will make everyone happy.


Notes: I came up with this idea when I was thinking about what Norman said about how he wanted to leave the show. He said he wanted to be walking off into the sunset and a dog walks out of the forest and walks with him and everyone wonders what ever happened to that one guy. There is no dog in my story, but he does leave. And he made it sound like nobody knew Daryl very well, so I left that part out too because their his family and he's theirs.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

The war is over and Negan is dead. The remaining survivors are Rick, Michonne, Carol, and Daryl. Carol and Daryl have their own house as do Rick and Michonne. Carol wakes up, but something is different. There is no aroma of freshly made coffee. Daryl always gets up early to make coffee for her. She gets dressed quickly, beginning to worry. She goes down stairs to where Daryl sleeps on the couch.

"Daryl?" No Daryl on the couch. Carol heads over to Rick and Michonne's. Maybe he's there. She closes the door behind her and notices an envelope taped to the door. It said To My Family on the front of it. She runs over to Rick and Michonne's and pounds on the door, startling Rick and Michonne because they were holding each other after making love and decided to sleep in a little.

"You've got to be kidding me," Michonne said, wondering what could be so important now that the war is over.

"I know how you feel Michonne, but it sounds important." He gave her a kiss and then sat up and as he started to get off the bed she grabbed his arm, pulling him back down. They both laughed.

"One more," Michonne said.

"Alright, one more."

"It's about Daryl!" Carol yelled. They looked at each other now with worried expressions. "We'll be right there!" They got dressed in a hurry and Rick almost tripped over his jeans. They needed to know what was going on with Daryl. Plus, if they kept her waiting any longer she might break the door down and Rick knew very well that she was capable if she wanted to. He opened the door mid knock and she almost hit him. She held up the envelope.

"Daryl left it on our door. I'm sorry if I interrupted something."

"No it's ok, really. This is Daryl were talking about," Rick said.

"Yeah, he's family," Michonne said.

"Daryl left." She handed the envelope to Rick and then started crying. Michonne pulled her into a hug and Michonne looked at Rick with a pissed off look on her face. Rick looked frustrated and shook his head. They couldn't believe that he would just leave knowing how much it would hurt Carol and them too. Rick opened the envelope and read the letter out loud.

" _Carol, Rick, and Michonne, as you know, I'm not good at expressing my feelings and I hate goodbyes, so I needed to do this on paper. I'm so sorry. I know I hurt you Carol and I will never forgive myself for that. I love you guys. You gave me a family and I will never forget you, but now that there is less of a threat from people and walkers, we are living the life of a suburban family and as much as I want to stay with you, I would be miserable. I belong out there like I was before this all started. I will miss my sisters and my_ …" Rick paused for a minute, starting to tear up when he saw the word brother. When he said it his voice broke then he paused again, trying to compose himself and took a deep breath. Michonne grabbed Rick's hand while still holding Carol. He smiled at her and she wiped a tear from his face. She had teared up too at the word sister and he wiped her tears away then continued. " _I hope you have a long happy life together and maybe I'll see you again someday. Daryl."_ It was quiet for a while until Rick spoke up. "Bull shit!" He ripped the letter. "Were going to find Daryl and bring him home whether he likes it or not."

"No, it's not bull shit Rick," Carol said, approaching Rick. "I know how he feels. I needed to leave even though I didn't want to leave any of you, but it was for your protection and my sanity. He's leaving not because he wants to but because he needs to or like he said, he would be miserable. I didn't want anyone going after me, so I'm sad to say but maybe we should leave him alone."

"No," Rick said, "we don't leave family behind. Even if they want to go." He looked at Carol and smiled. Carol smiled back.

"He's right," Michonne said. "I, Rosita, and Glenn went after him because we were afraid he might hurt himself trying to get revenge after what happened to Denise. He might be able to take care of himself, but it doesn't mean shit still can't go down. Tyrese was strong and capable too, but he still got caught off guard. The same could happen to Daryl. I remember when I was alone before I met Andrea. I didn't realize how lonely I was till I met her. She was my best friend. My sister," she said with a shaky voice, trying to hold in her emotions.

"We miss her too," Rick said, giving her a hug. Carol hugged her too, on the verge of tears.

Michonne continued. "Then when I met you and Daryl at the prison I didn't know you well, but that changed quickly." Rick and Carol smiled at her and she smiled back. "Then when the prison was destroyed and we lost Hershel, I thought I lost all of you. I was alone again. I was trying to be strong, but then I finally broke and then I tried to find any survivors. Then I found you and Carl." The three of them started crying at the mention of Carl. "What would be worse then us letting him go would be if we didn't even try to convince him to come home."

"Your right Michonne," Carol said. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'm not whole without Daryl."

"We're not either," Michonne said.

"I think it's safe to say that he's not whole without us either," Rick said. "That's why I have a different way we can do this so we can all be together." Carol and Michonne looked baffled and Rick smiled at their expressions. "What do you say we leave Alexandria, find Daryl, and stay with him?" They stared at him in shock.

"I'd say that's crazy but brilliant," Carol said, laughing.

"I agree it's crazy, but it's crazy enough to work," Michonne said.

"Well then, let's get our Daryl back," Rick said. They gathered their belongings along with some food and extra weapons just in case of walkers or more bad people. They met up by the gate. "So are we ready to leave Alexandria forever?" Rick asked.

"In the words of Daryl Dixon …" Michonne and Carol smiled at each other. "Hell yeah!" They said at the same time. They laughed. They held hands and teared up taking in Alexandria one last time. They took the RV and decided they could come back for the other cars. They parked right outside the forest and decided that they would stick together knowing by now how things could go wrong when you separate. They walked deep into the forest. They didn't want to call out his name because even though there were fewer walkers they didn't want to take a chance.

"I'm going to climb this tree and see if I can see him."

"Good idea Michonne," Rick said. "I'll spot you just in case."

"I've been doing this since I was a child. I think I'll be alright."

"Ok, but I'm still standing by and besides, I like the view from down here." She smiled at him.

"Focus you two," Carol said, smiling. She looked through the binoculars and saw something she could never unsee. It was about 105 degrees and Daryl was taking a nap lying on his stomach in his birthday suit and as if that weren't bad enough, he turned over onto his back.

"Oh shit!" Michonne yelled and lost her footing. She fell down and Rick caught her.

"How long did you say you've been doing this?"

"Smart ass." Rick laughed. Carol ran up to her.

"What's wrong? Was it Daryl?" She cleared her throat.

"Yes. I saw Daryl alright," she said in a low voice, blushing.

"Is he ok?"

"He's fine," she said, blushing even more and regretting using the word fine.

"There's something you're not telling us. What did you see Michonne?"

"Why don't you see for your self?" She handed him the binoculars and he climbed the tree. Carol gave Michonne a pissed off look, not understanding why she wasn't saying what she saw. She went up to Carol and held her hands. "It's ok, really. I can't say out loud what I saw, so when Rick comes down he can explain it to you. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. I'm just worried."

"There is nothing to worry about ok?"

"Ok." Rick looked through the binoculars then dropped them. Daryl turned over, but didn't wake up. He climbed down then looked at Michonne.

"Mr. Rick Grimes, are you blushing?" He smiled and looked down, embarrassed.

"Well, will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"Daryl's ok. He's just … sleeping." Carol started laughing with relief.

"Is that it? Why couldn't you just say that?" They looked at her not knowing what to say, so Rick cleared his throat and just came out with it. "He's not just sleeping. He's sleeping naked." She blushed.

"I'm glad he's ok, but how are we going to wake him up with out embarrassing him?"

"I think I will go to him and you two will stay close behind me while I hide behind a tree and throw my watch next to him and he'll know it's me." They agreed. Rick threw the watch and it landed on his back, startling him. He shot up and grabbed his bow, turning in every direction before noticing the sun reflecting off something on the ground. He picked it up and knew immediately it was Rick's. He looked around.

"Rick?" He whispered loudly.

"I'm behind the tree."

"We're surrounded by trees dumbass. Which tree?" Carol and Michonne laughed and Rick couldn't help but laugh at Daryl's sense of humor too. Daryl heard them laugh and couldn't help but smile.

"Carol and Michonne are here?"

"Yeah. Look, I'll explain everything to you, but not from behind the tree and defiantly not when you're naked." He forgot that he wasn't wearing any clothes and quickly gathered them and put them on. Rick motioned for Carol and Michonne to come out. Daryl was surprised, but happy to see them. He honestly thought he would never see them again. He hugged Carol, on the verge of tears. She put her hands on his face then kissed his forehead. Michonne approached him.

"Did you actually think you were going to get rid of us?" She asked smiling and starting to tear up. Rick stood in front of Daryl.

"Good to see you brother and even more so with clothes on." Daryl smiled and gave him a hug. They were both on the verge of tears.

"You too brother." Daryl looked down.

"Did you two … uh … see me …"

"Naked?" Michonne asked. He nodded his head blushing. "I did," Michonne said, smiling at him, making him blush even more.

"What about you Carol?"

"No I didn't." He took a deep breath of relief. He didn't want her looking at him differently like Michonne was. He knew that she couldn't help it, but it didn't make it any less uncomfortable.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to see you, but if you read my letter then you know I can't go back with you. No matter how much I want to."

"That's why we're here Daryl," Rick said.

"What do you mean?"

"Who's the dumbass now?" Rick asked, smiling.

"Do you want an arrow in your ass? I've done it before."

"I know. I remember Daryl," he laughed. Carol stepped in.

"We mean that we couldn't just let you go, but we knew you wouldn't come back, so we decided to leave Alexandria, find you, and ask you if we can stay with you."

"But Alexandria was so perfect. I can't believe you would leave there just for me."

"Don't you get it by now Daryl," Carol said, as she grabbed his hands. "You are our family and we love you."

"Yeah, fleas and all," Michonne said, smiling. He smiled back.

"What do you say Daryl? Can we stay?" Rick asked.

"Hell yeah!" They laughed.

"We brought the RV, some extra weapons, and food."

"What? You don't like squirrel and possum?" He looked offended and they all started talking at once trying to explain themselves. Daryl started laughing and they looked at him and went quiet and not because they realized he was joking but because he was laughing. They had never seen or heard him laugh like that before. It lit up his whole face and made him look younger. They all smiled and just watched him. He calmed himself.

"What?"

"We had never seen you laugh before," Carol said.

"Well, I guess with my family staying with me and willing to live in my environment so we could be together, I'm happier then I've ever been. It's perfect," he said, tearing up. "There's only one more thing that could make this more perfect." He walked up to Carol, feeling more confident then he has in his whole life. He grabbed her hands. "Carol, you know I have trouble showing my feelings, but seeing you after thinking I would never see you again, that was everything to me and it made me realize how I feel about you. I can't live without you. I was miserable living in Alexandria and I thought living in my element would change that, but I was wrong. I was more miserable then ever living without you. All of you." He smiled at Rick and Michonne and they smiled back. "I only realized that when I got here and I was alone. I love you Carol." Carol started crying.

"I love you too Daryl." They hugged and then Daryl took the initiative and kissed Carol surprising her, Rick, Michonne, and even himself. Carol was in shock, but it was quickly replaced with nothing but happiness and love for Daryl and she kissed him back. They wrapped their arms around each other. Rick and Michonne were in shock too, but then they looked at each other, smiled, and then held hands. They broke from the kiss still holding each other and smiling. "That was amazing Daryl."

"Stop." She laughed and he smiled.

"It's about time," Rick said.

"I'd say," Michonne smiled. Rick and Michonne exchanged hugs with Daryl and Carol.


End file.
